Security incident reporting is a crucial element of any operation, regardless of industry. Whether we’re talking about a security incident in a physical store, a construction site, or a municipal building, all security incidents require two things: rapid and appropriate response and comprehensive documentation.

Ensuring you include the appropriate security incident reporting essentials within a security incident report is crucial to both appropriate response and later analysis. Including the relevant information in an objective and unbiased fashion can make the difference between legal consequences for those who would require them and vindication for those who do not.

To ensure that your security incidents receive comprehensive documentation, we recommend utilizing a mobile tool that will empower your mobile personnel and help speed appropriate security incident response safely and effectively.

Understanding Security Incident Reporting

Security incident reporting is an essential element of any business emergency response plan. Whether you’re protecting a data server or a physical store, when incidents occur, it’s crucial to document the security incident in a timely, unbiased, and comprehensive report.

Reporting incidents in a timely fashion is crucial for accurate incident reporting and response. Furthermore, depending on the severity of the security incident, the response time may have a direct impact on the outcome. This fact makes it critical to establish a timely, unbiased, and comprehensive security incident reporting protocol.

Inadequate incident reporting can cause multiple issues for a business. I recall when I worked for an industrial service company and found that our office was broken into the night before, and our entire computer system was ransacked. At the time, we had no more a reporting process than a pen and paper. The ensuing arguments between the company owner and his insurance company led me to see that a robust and comprehensive security incident reporting process was not a side thought – it was crucial for maintaining appropriate operations.

Did you know? The cost of downtime from system failures, breaches in company data, or other events can cost the following⁽¹⁾:

• For financial services: $2600 per minute of downtime.
• For Healthcare: $8400 per minute of downtime.
• For manufacturing: $ 17,000 per minute for downtime.

Critical Components of Effective Security Incident Reporting

A number of elements will help to ensure your security incident reporting processes are comprehensive. Remember, training team members to document observations in an unbiased manner is paramount. However, it’s crucial to understand why we bother to document and adjust procedures: because procedures that are a necessity are generally at the expense of an organization’s bottom line. Thus, it makes sense to try to resolve these incidents with (first and foremost) professionalism to minimize any further adverse effects of an incident and to minimize the potential cost to all parties.

So, we need to understand what our desired goal is for said processes. Let’s look at how we can make our security incident reporting more valuable while also being less costly.

Effective is not the same as efficient. In my experience, it’s best to try to assimilate what I call the 3 E’s:

• Efficiency: Efficiency is the measure of ability to succesfully complete a task with the least amount of wasted effort or resources. In the context of using mobile and digital tools for security incident reporting, efficiency would involve how quickly and smoothly the tools allow users to document and report incidents without unnecessary delays or complications. For example, an efficient mobile application for security incident reporting would streamline the process, minimizing the time required to input relevant information and submit reports.
• Effectiveness: Effectiveness pertains to the degree to which a task or goal is successfully achieved. It focuses on the outcome or result of an action. In the context of security incident reporting tools, effectiveness would be measured by how well the application enables users to accurately document incidents and communicate relevant information to the appropriate channels. An effective tool would ensure that incident reports are comprehensive, timely, and actionable, leading to appropriate responses and resolutions.
• Efficacy: Efficacy is the measure of how well something can produce a desired or intended result. It assesses the effectiveness of a particular method, approach, or tool in achieving its intended purpose. The efficacy of mobile and digital tools for security incident reporting involves evaluating how well these tools meet the specific needs and objectives of the users and organizations employing them. It includes factors such as user satisfaction, reliability, and the impact of the tools on improving security incident management processes.

The 3 E’s sum up critical component number one: an effective security incident reporting process that includes mobile tools like 1st Reporting to ensure maximum effectiveness for documentation and communications.

Fundamentally, an organization will need a) mobile technology like smartphones or tablets and b) a robust platform to facilitate effective security incident reporting in a way that makes sense for your industry and organization.

There is no accepted standard for what to include in a security incident response. Studies show that this is a somewhat accepted phenomenon, and thus, there is no standard to follow. ⁽²⁾ However, this allows for the opportunity to devise a standardized model that is beneficial for most industries.

I believe that in today’s fast-paced workplace, where everyone has a smartphone and many have two (one personal, one for work), it makes sense that our new standard includes the use of technology. For example, we could set the standard that no matter what industry, it should be an accepted practice to use mobile applications, like 1st Reporting, for security incident reporting to ensure that a) the capture of all of the appropriate information succeeds, and b) the appropriate response procedures are followed and documented.

Benefits of Utilizing the 1st Reporting App

I mentioned the use of 1st Reporting as a tool to help promote efficient, effective, and efficacious solutions to security incident reporting processes. However, you may not be clear on what 1st Reporting is or why it’s such a powerful tool to help organizations stay on top of their security and other incident, inspection, audit, or similar scenario documentation and management.

1st Reporting is a mobile application designed to assist organizations and management with incident reporting, inspection documentation, and workplace-documented workflow management. In a nutshell, it is a cloud-based reporting app that works on all devices and enables teams to complete forms, documents, checklists, and similar digital documents in the field, whether within the range of a cellular signal or not.

1st Reporting provides an intuitive, simple, yet surprisingly powerful management and reporting platform for organizations. The dashboard is easy to navigate and thus easy to learn (and train), so implementation is easy and fast.

The manager’s ability to use the powerful KPI reporting and customizable map view management dashboard to their advantage is unprecedented—it’s like having a data analyst and logistics master at your fingertips but without the challenges. 

Custom notifications make 1st Reporting stand apart from the competition. Fully customizable notification triggers enable you to adapt any process into an assertive communication and process management system.

Best Practices for Security Incident Reporting

In my experience, each company is going to have its own best practices that pertain to its industry, its organizational structure, and its demographic location and regulations that it must adhere to within said location. With that said, I believe that we can still come to agree on four pillars of security incident reporting, regardless of the industry or use case:

1. Establishing a reporting culture within the organization. I’ve found that if you don’t support a robust reporting culture, you’ll get the opposite effect: a fear-based anti-reporting workplace. For example, suppose you don’t empower your team members to feel comfortable sharing observations. In that case, your organization will suffer without positive change to overcome those potential hurdles that go with their form of operations.
2. Providing thorough training on app usage and reporting procedures. This point should be a no-brainer. However, the scenario is directly related to the complexity and, thus, ease of training on the use of ideal security incident reporting tools. Industry-standard tools like the 1st Reporting app are making it easier for organizations with diverse workforces to learn its intuitive dashboard and ease of operations. Easy-to-understand applications are crucial for fast and successful training and adoption.
3. Regularly reviewing and updating reporting protocols. Security incident reporting is not a one-and-done scenario. The concept is to continuously evaluate and improve on incident reporting protocol in order to develop the most efficient and efficable processes for your organization.
4. Encouraging feedback and continuous improvement. Building on my last point, encouraging input for constant improvement is the only way to move forward with security incident reporting practices. Remember, without an open environment, you won’t necessarily learn how to work to make a safer, more effective, and open organization. So, always encourage feedback and ensure you develop a secure system where team members have zero fear of retribution for sharing their ideas and observations.

Empowering Security: A Call to Action

In closing, it’s evident that security incident reporting is a bureaucratic requirement but also a fundamental pillar of organizational resilience and risk management. By embracing mobile technology and platforms like 1st Reporting, businesses can streamline their incident reporting processes, enhance response times, and mitigate potential risks more effectively.

As you reflect on the critical components discussed, remember the power of the 3 E’s: Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Efficacy. These principles underscore the need for solutions that expedite reporting and ensure accuracy, thoroughness, and adaptability to evolving security landscapes.

Now is the time to take action. Embrace a culture of proactive reporting, invest in comprehensive training for your teams, and continuously refine your reporting protocols. By doing so, you will safeguard your organization against costly downtime and legal ramifications and foster a culture of transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Join the ranks of forward-thinking organizations that prioritize security incident reporting as a cornerstone of their operations. Explore 1st Reporting’s capabilities and unleash the full potential of your security management strategy. Together, let’s pave the way for safer, more resilient workplaces where incidents are not feared but managed with confidence and efficiency.

Thank you for considering these insights. Don’t hesitate to reach out for further guidance or demonstrations of the 1st Reporting app. Your proactive stance in security matters makes a difference.

Article Sources & Resources

Sources

1. Default. 2022. “The Cost of Downtime due to Data Breach.” Nedigital.com. NE Digital, Inc. May 16, 2022. https://www.nedigital.com/en/blog/the-cost-of-downtime-due-to-data-breach#:~:text=Downtime%20can%20result%20from%20system,companies%20(Downtime%20Cost%20Calculator)..
2. Grispos, George, William Glisson, and Tim Storer. n.d. “Security Incident Response Criteria: A Practitioner’s Perspective.” Accessed May 6, 2024. https://arxiv.org/pdf/1508.02526.

Resources

• 1st Reporting – Robust Security Reporting Software
• Security Incident Reporting Software For Security Agencies
• The Cyber Security Incident Response Plan Checklist For Business
• Using Digital Forms In Policing and Security – A New Approach
• The Security Shift Report (Free And Downloadable)
• The Security Patrol Report Form Template (Free And Downloadable)
• A Security Incident Report To Download And Allocate Today
• Contact our team for further inquiries or demonstrations of the 1st Reporting app.